INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

A computer is a electronic machine that takes instructions and performs computations based on those
instructions.

A computer is an electronic device which basically performs five major operations which includes:

1) Accepts data or instructions

2) Stores data

3) Process data

4) Displays results (output) and

5) Controls and co-ordinates all operations inside a computer

Control exercised by control unit

 INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES

INPUT DEVICES

An input device is used to feed data and instructions into the computer. In the absence of an
input device, a computer would have only been a display device.

Input Devices are:

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Trackpad
 Joystick
 Touchscreen
 Scanners
 Bar code readers

OUTPUT DEVICES

Any device that outputs/gives information from a computer is called an output device.

Output devices are electro-mechanical device which accept digital data from the computer and converts
them into human understandable language.

Output Devices are:

 Monitor
 Speaker
 Printer
 Projector
 BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM

Computers are electronic machines which operate using binary logic.

These devices use two different values to represent the two voltage levels (0V for logic 0 and +5V for
logic 1). The two values 0 and 1 therefore, correspond to the two digits used by the binary number
system.

Some important terms in binary number system include:

Bit: Bit is a short form of binary digit. It is the smallest possible unit of data. In computerized data a bit
can either be 0 or 1.

Nibble: Nibble is a group of four binary digits.

 COMPUTER MEMORY

Computer memory is an internal storage area used to store data and programs

It can be divided into two groups: primary memory and secondary memory.

While the main memory holds instructions and data when a program is executing, the auxiliary or the
secondary memory holds data and programs not currently in use and provides long-term storage.

The primary memory is volatile, so the data can be retained in it, only when the power is on. Moreover,
it is very expensive and therefore limited in capacity.